Making the EU aid brand more visible

When Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European commissioner for external relations, Louis Michel, the commissioner for development, and Colin Powell, then the US secretary of state, shared a helicopter in December 2006 to visit the region of Aceh, only the American got news coverage. “Everybody saw him, nobody saw us,” said Ferrero-Waldner, addressing the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee in July.

Persistent problem

The issue of visibility is a persistent problem for the EU and its development policy. Collectively, the European Union and its individual member states rank among the most generous donors of aid in the world, but few people either inside or outside Europe are aware of this.

In part, that is because the EU channels much of its aid through third parties – international organisations such as UN agencies, or non-governmental organisations. The Commission has introduced guidelines to give the EU greater visibility, requiring the people and organisations to mention the EU and use the Union’s flag logo. Aid project agreements even specify the size and colour of that flag logo. But few of the projects with which the EU is involved get the same kudos as redounds to the United Nations or the US.

Political sensitivity

MEPs have generally been supportive of the Commission’s attempts to increase visibility. But member states often express doubt about changes to the EU’s development policy if it involves them relinquishing sovereignty. And putting forward the EU brand raises sensitivities about politics and security. Ferrero-Waldner pointed out that, when it came to aid for Iraq, “if we put a sign on a school, it will be bombed very quickly”.

Organisations such as the International Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières are also fearful that aid might become politicised, especially in politically tense situations. But Michel has stressed that visibility is needed, not least to win public support for what the EU is doing. “When I insist on ‘EU visibility’ it is not to self-congratulate the Commission, it is to ensure public support for humanitarian aid in the EU,” he said.